A typical forge manipulator has ingot tongs that grip the workpiece for forging and rotates it by means of a drive in a manner dependent on the forging process. Such a forging manipulator, particularly for multiple-hammer forging machines, is known from EP 0 434 891 B1. Here several hammers work on the forging piece radially, and the manipulator has a central rotatably mounted axle. The central axle moves the workpiece according to the forging sequence rotationally. A motor running with a predetermined constant rotation rate serves as the rotary drive of the manipulator. This motor is acts directly on the central axle of the manipulator via a worm drive. The rotational movement of the central axle stopped by the hammers before the pressure contact phase, and maintained stopped during the pressure contact phase. The worm driven in the process is mounted to be movable axially.
According to the prior art, the rotational movement of the forging piece is stopped before the pressure contact phase, i.e. engagement of the forging tool with the workpiece, and maintained stopped during the pressure contact phase.
Such rotary drives for manipulators of forging machines are nevertheless quite complex and expensive. In addition, owing to the complexity of the construction, the rotary drive is susceptible to malfunction.